2015 GMC CANYON SLE VIN 1GTH5BEA4F1176876

This GMC Canyon SLE was built in 2015. The fuel is petrol. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. The specification is taken from the source data.

The source data puts the mileage at 160,329 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

When the car was recorded, it showed rear-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. A lift and a diagnostic check show what photos cannot: bent brackets behind a panel, chafed wiring or deployed airbags.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The car carries a salvage title. Titles of this type are issued to cars declared a total loss. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

Every car builds up a history from the day it is first registered: owners come and go, inspections are passed or failed, and repairs are paid for. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. A car’s past rarely shows on the paintwork: a well-repaired accident or water damage that was dried out is easy to miss.

For the engine, the service history matters most: oil changes, filters and the timing belt or chain are the entries to look for. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. Automatic transmissions, CVTs included, are expensive to repair, so the test drive should include pulling away from a standstill and a stretch at motorway speed.

The VIN is a 17-character code assigned at the factory: it identifies the manufacturer, the model and its variant, and ends with a serial number unique to the car. This car’s identification number is 1GTH5BEA4F1176876. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Look up the history of VIN 1GTH5BEA4F1176876 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.